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Horrowitz Horror Shorts
The Complete Horowitz Horror
New York Times Bestseller Anthony Horowitz's horror collections, now in one volume!
Welcome to a world where everything seems normal. At least, at first. But the sinister and truly terrifying lurk just beneath the surface. Like a bathtub with a history so haunted, no one dares get in it...or an ordinary-looking camera that does unspeakable things to its subjects...or an elevator filled with cannibals just waiting for their next victim to walk in. This wicked collection of eighteen macabre tales combining both Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror will send shivers up your spine.
This edition includes;
1. Bath Night
2. Killer Camera
3. Light Moves
4. The Night Bus
5. Harriet's Horrible Dream
6. Scared
7. A Career in Computer Games
8. The Man with the Yellow Face
9. The Monkey's Ear
10. The Hitchhiker
11. The Sound of Murder
12. Burned
13. Flight 715
14. Howard's End
15. The Elevator
16. The Phone Goes Dead
17. Twist Cottage
18. The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written
Welcome to a world where everything seems normal. At least, at first. But the sinister and truly terrifying lurk just beneath the surface. Like a bathtub with a history so haunted, no one dares get in it...or an ordinary-looking camera that does unspeakable things to its subjects...or an elevator filled with cannibals just waiting for their next victim to walk in. This wicked collection of eighteen macabre tales combining both Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror will send shivers up your spine.
This edition includes;
1. Bath Night
2. Killer Camera
3. Light Moves
4. The Night Bus
5. Harriet's Horrible Dream
6. Scared
7. A Career in Computer Games
8. The Man with the Yellow Face
9. The Monkey's Ear
10. The Hitchhiker
11. The Sound of Murder
12. Burned
13. Flight 715
14. Howard's End
15. The Elevator
16. The Phone Goes Dead
17. Twist Cottage
18. The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written
448 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2008
38 people are currently reading
734 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Horowitz
345 books21k followersAnthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
October 23, 2022
Overall Rating : B+
Another spooky read for October! A bunch of short stories that actually manages to make you laugh and cry out in terror.
But really, Anthony Horowitz could write about paint drying and I'd still be hooked from start to finish XD
Another spooky read for October! A bunch of short stories that actually manages to make you laugh and cry out in terror.
But really, Anthony Horowitz could write about paint drying and I'd still be hooked from start to finish XD
October 30, 2018
Well it’s definitely safe to say that this is the last time I read anything by Horowitz. This supposed horror story collection was absolutely dreadful and definitely NOT what I’d call horror. The stories were just so juvenile and there was so much wrong with them on so many levels. And don’t get me started on how predictable they were, I could tell the whole damn story just by the title!
December 15, 2017
I will not be writing a full review on this book because I could barely remember what I was reading while I reading. It was just so bad. I don't understand how this has almost a four star rating. They were all just awful to me. I didn't like one story, they all bored me equally. The first story started out with fat shaming of a child - always charming (WHY is this a norm from horror authors??? Get it together!). There were weird sterotypes of races (particually Chinese people) and they were always awkward and uncomfortble. Just no. Not into at all. Would never read anything by this author again. Ah well, it happens. I should've DNF'd it near the start.
February 1, 2018
AMAZING MY TYPE
April 13, 2014
I thought this book was really good, and it gave nightmares twice. :-(
My favourite story was the guy in the elevator one.
My favourite story was the guy in the elevator one.
March 20, 2022
I am a big Horowitz fan. It began with Foyle’s War. A fantastic tv series he penned set during World War 2 that featured Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle. Since, I have read Magpie Murders, The House of Silk, and Moriarty (he has the right to write Sherlock Holmes novels from Conan Doyle’s estate). The man is known for the Alex Rider series and is licensed to write James Bond novels. Let’s agree he is no slouch.
That was why I was very much looking forward to this collection of short horror stories. Unfortunately, they were very cartoonish. Many of them seemed geared towards a YA audience. The first four had me laughing. A killer bath tub, killer camera, killer computer and killer bus. This reminded me of the Family Guy episode that has Stephen King at his publisher pitching a book that features a “lamp monster” because he is clearly running out of ideas.
It didn’t really improve though it passed the time. None of the stories challenge or compel. It is really trite, light stuff. Still, it could find a place on the shelf at a cottage or cabin. On a rainy day, it could be just the simple read one is looking for.
That was why I was very much looking forward to this collection of short horror stories. Unfortunately, they were very cartoonish. Many of them seemed geared towards a YA audience. The first four had me laughing. A killer bath tub, killer camera, killer computer and killer bus. This reminded me of the Family Guy episode that has Stephen King at his publisher pitching a book that features a “lamp monster” because he is clearly running out of ideas.
It didn’t really improve though it passed the time. None of the stories challenge or compel. It is really trite, light stuff. Still, it could find a place on the shelf at a cottage or cabin. On a rainy day, it could be just the simple read one is looking for.
October 21, 2017
“Bath Night”
When a family buys an antique and haunted bath tub, a girl begins to fear taking a bath. This was a decent story, though the reveal of where the tub came from felt a bit predictable and easy. 3/5
“Killer Camera”
A boy buys a camera from a yard sale, only to find out it kills whatever and whoever is captured in a picture. This was a cool idea with a question mark of an ending. 4/5
“Light Moves”
A father gives his son a new computer formerly owned by a deceased coworker. This had a different take on the haunted computer, and had a decent snap ending. 3/5
“The Night Bus”
Two brothers coming home from a party accidentally hop on a bus for the dead. It seemed like I’ve heard of this idea before, and I felt the reveal at the end was pretty unnecessary. 3/5
“Harriet’s Horrible Dream”
Harriet’s nightmare serves as a frame for the story which unfolds, only it isn’t a dream. This was an interesting concept framed in a dream, though a bit lacking in believability. 3/5
“Scared”
Another kid wanders the countryside when he and his mother stay in a farmhouse. This had a great snap ending, though it felt incomplete as for a storyline. 2/5
“A Career in Computer Games”
A boy finds a job ad for a career in computer games, no qualifications needed. This was a senseless story where seriously who the hell would think some shady job offer was a good idea? 1/5
“The Man with the Yellow Face”
A boy takes some pictures in a photo booth, except one of them turns out to be of a strange man who looks familiar. This was an interesting concept and ending. 3/5
“The Monkey’s Ear”
A family visiting Marrakesh has the son wanting to buy a monkey’s ear which can grant four wishes. The concept seemed familiar, and I found the characters pretty stupid, though the ending turned out punny. 3/5
“The Hitchhiker”
A take on the classic hitchhiker story takes a twist when a family picks up a man who the son suspects is a murderer. I enjoyed the unexpected ending and the unreliable narrator worked well. 4/5
“The Sound of Murder”
When a new teacher is hired, a deaf student begins to hear voices every time she goes to his class. I liked the concept and haven’t read anything with a deaf character before. 4/5
“Burned”
A kid joins his aunt and uncle on a trip to Barbados where they witness the uncle’s attempts to get a tan. This was a more lighthearted story that was more funny than scary. 4/5
“Flight 715”
A girl vacationing with her family has a dream of her own death if they take the next flight back home. I’d read or seen this idea before, and it was nothing new, though the explanation at the end was different. 3/5
“Howard’s End”
A shoplifter get run over by a bus and goes to what he thinks if heaven; this was another one of those more humorous stories, and I enjoyed the twist, though these bully characters are getting repetitive. 3/5
“The Elevator”
A police detective tries to solve the mystery of a boy who disappeared in an elevator. For once the protagonist isn’t a teenager, and I found the case fascinating. This did feel more like the start of a longer story, and wished there was a conclusion. 4/5
“The Phone Goes Dead”
A boy gets a dead woman’s phone and begins to get phone calls from beyond the grave. This seemed like an overdone idea; nothing new here. 2/5
“Twist Cottage”
A family moves into a haunted cottage. For a haunted house story, this one was decent, though could’ve used more atmosphere. 4/5
“The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written”
A short meta story/conclusion about the author sneaking this piece into the book by breaking into the publisher’s office. 4/5
I’d heard of the Horowitz Horror books before when I was younger, but never got around to reading them. Definitely these stories are geared towards a younger audience (maybe even younger than YA), and so many of the ideas are brief concepts (which was the strongest part of the collection), but the characters are pretty flat, and the plotlines pretty thin. Also it must be a generational or British thing given how old these stories are, but they read kind of dated (I mean, Oriental and asylums?). Overall, for brief, creepy and playful, old school horror stories, these are a treat. 3.2/5 stars
When a family buys an antique and haunted bath tub, a girl begins to fear taking a bath. This was a decent story, though the reveal of where the tub came from felt a bit predictable and easy. 3/5
“Killer Camera”
A boy buys a camera from a yard sale, only to find out it kills whatever and whoever is captured in a picture. This was a cool idea with a question mark of an ending. 4/5
“Light Moves”
A father gives his son a new computer formerly owned by a deceased coworker. This had a different take on the haunted computer, and had a decent snap ending. 3/5
“The Night Bus”
Two brothers coming home from a party accidentally hop on a bus for the dead. It seemed like I’ve heard of this idea before, and I felt the reveal at the end was pretty unnecessary. 3/5
“Harriet’s Horrible Dream”
Harriet’s nightmare serves as a frame for the story which unfolds, only it isn’t a dream. This was an interesting concept framed in a dream, though a bit lacking in believability. 3/5
“Scared”
Another kid wanders the countryside when he and his mother stay in a farmhouse. This had a great snap ending, though it felt incomplete as for a storyline. 2/5
“A Career in Computer Games”
A boy finds a job ad for a career in computer games, no qualifications needed. This was a senseless story where seriously who the hell would think some shady job offer was a good idea? 1/5
“The Man with the Yellow Face”
A boy takes some pictures in a photo booth, except one of them turns out to be of a strange man who looks familiar. This was an interesting concept and ending. 3/5
“The Monkey’s Ear”
A family visiting Marrakesh has the son wanting to buy a monkey’s ear which can grant four wishes. The concept seemed familiar, and I found the characters pretty stupid, though the ending turned out punny. 3/5
“The Hitchhiker”
A take on the classic hitchhiker story takes a twist when a family picks up a man who the son suspects is a murderer. I enjoyed the unexpected ending and the unreliable narrator worked well. 4/5
“The Sound of Murder”
When a new teacher is hired, a deaf student begins to hear voices every time she goes to his class. I liked the concept and haven’t read anything with a deaf character before. 4/5
“Burned”
A kid joins his aunt and uncle on a trip to Barbados where they witness the uncle’s attempts to get a tan. This was a more lighthearted story that was more funny than scary. 4/5
“Flight 715”
A girl vacationing with her family has a dream of her own death if they take the next flight back home. I’d read or seen this idea before, and it was nothing new, though the explanation at the end was different. 3/5
“Howard’s End”
A shoplifter get run over by a bus and goes to what he thinks if heaven; this was another one of those more humorous stories, and I enjoyed the twist, though these bully characters are getting repetitive. 3/5
“The Elevator”
A police detective tries to solve the mystery of a boy who disappeared in an elevator. For once the protagonist isn’t a teenager, and I found the case fascinating. This did feel more like the start of a longer story, and wished there was a conclusion. 4/5
“The Phone Goes Dead”
A boy gets a dead woman’s phone and begins to get phone calls from beyond the grave. This seemed like an overdone idea; nothing new here. 2/5
“Twist Cottage”
A family moves into a haunted cottage. For a haunted house story, this one was decent, though could’ve used more atmosphere. 4/5
“The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written”
A short meta story/conclusion about the author sneaking this piece into the book by breaking into the publisher’s office. 4/5
I’d heard of the Horowitz Horror books before when I was younger, but never got around to reading them. Definitely these stories are geared towards a younger audience (maybe even younger than YA), and so many of the ideas are brief concepts (which was the strongest part of the collection), but the characters are pretty flat, and the plotlines pretty thin. Also it must be a generational or British thing given how old these stories are, but they read kind of dated (I mean, Oriental and asylums?). Overall, for brief, creepy and playful, old school horror stories, these are a treat. 3.2/5 stars
November 14, 2021
This collection was one of my favorites growing up. I've read it many times throughout the years and some of the stories still haunt me. Not all of them are hits, but overall I'd recommend this book.
May 3, 2024
wanted to read short stories from my childhood and these were on zlib. these did not hold up unfortunately horowitz reeeeally spells everything out for you. i like endings that are up for interpretation and this book gives you none of that. quick read tho
April 2, 2020
I really enjoyed this one!
September 21, 2025
Read the e-book edition.
It had twilight zone for young adults vibe. All the stories were good & some really good. My favourites were Bath Night, Killer Camera, Night Bus, the Hitchhiker, & Phone Goes Dead.
4.5 stars
It had twilight zone for young adults vibe. All the stories were good & some really good. My favourites were Bath Night, Killer Camera, Night Bus, the Hitchhiker, & Phone Goes Dead.
4.5 stars
January 22, 2018
This book is about horror. It is spine-chilling, different stories each chapter.
August 8, 2013
Jesus Christ, The Complete Horowitz Horror is a complete mess. It's an absolutely atrocious excuse for a horror book. The only thing remotely scary about this book is how horrible it is. Horowitz has no idea how to write a proper short story and after this, I don't think I'll be reading any more of his books. I liked his The Gatekeepers series back when I read it (2010?) and thought it to be genuinely creepy but I'm sorry, The Complete put me off all and any of his books.
Granted, I am not scared by books easily (*cough* never *cough*) nor often truly disturbed, but I can appreciate scary books even if they do not scare me. The stories in this book were truly not scary. At all. In fact, I couldn't really tell which parts are meant to be scary - or if the book itself was even meant to be scary or if it was meant to be a 'so bad it's funny' book.
I'm going to be reviewing the Collection as a whole because, there are just too many stories that failed to leave an impact of any sort. The fact that almost every single story is identical makes it easier to write this review as well.
Almost every story follows a similar process which goes something like this:
- Introduce main character
- share every last detail of said character
- get weird object
- have the main character reflect on said item
- SCARY SURPRISE ENDING.
There is absolutely no tension building, unless you count some mildly odd things happening. The beginnings are almost always awful and pointless. Why should give a fuck that the main character's parents are getting divorced or that he's rich. It doesn't add anything to the story. It doesn't make the character more real. It really only bogs down the flow of the story.
Almost every single sorry has something to do with "the mystical item of doooooooooooom" which gets old after a while because it's clear the author has run out of ideas. I mean, a bathtub haunted by a ? Really?
The endings are almost always over the top and idiotic in their attempts to scare the reader. While, in some cases, the stories had the potential to be scary ones, Horowitz's absolutely awful writing shattered any hopes of redemption.
Before I finish off this short review, I need to address one thing. One of the stories was a retelling of the Monkey's Paw. Now, I have never read the original story but I know enough about it to know it's good. However, the retelling, however, was pathetic and horrible. In fact, you could barely tell the story was ever good.
Anthony Horowitz may be good at writing horror stories but he is certainly not a good short story writer. I honestly hope that he never writes another short story, much less a whole book full of short stories.
Granted, I am not scared by books easily (*cough* never *cough*) nor often truly disturbed, but I can appreciate scary books even if they do not scare me. The stories in this book were truly not scary. At all. In fact, I couldn't really tell which parts are meant to be scary - or if the book itself was even meant to be scary or if it was meant to be a 'so bad it's funny' book.
I'm going to be reviewing the Collection as a whole because, there are just too many stories that failed to leave an impact of any sort. The fact that almost every single story is identical makes it easier to write this review as well.
Almost every story follows a similar process which goes something like this:
- Introduce main character
- share every last detail of said character
- get weird object
- have the main character reflect on said item
- SCARY SURPRISE ENDING.
There is absolutely no tension building, unless you count some mildly odd things happening. The beginnings are almost always awful and pointless. Why should give a fuck that the main character's parents are getting divorced or that he's rich. It doesn't add anything to the story. It doesn't make the character more real. It really only bogs down the flow of the story.
Almost every single sorry has something to do with "the mystical item of doooooooooooom" which gets old after a while because it's clear the author has run out of ideas. I mean, a bathtub haunted by a ? Really?
The endings are almost always over the top and idiotic in their attempts to scare the reader. While, in some cases, the stories had the potential to be scary ones, Horowitz's absolutely awful writing shattered any hopes of redemption.
Before I finish off this short review, I need to address one thing. One of the stories was a retelling of the Monkey's Paw. Now, I have never read the original story but I know enough about it to know it's good. However, the retelling, however, was pathetic and horrible. In fact, you could barely tell the story was ever good.
Anthony Horowitz may be good at writing horror stories but he is certainly not a good short story writer. I honestly hope that he never writes another short story, much less a whole book full of short stories.
May 2, 2021
Before I read this, I had read all the books in the Alex Rider series so I wondered how well Anthony Horowitz could handle the horror genre. Going into this book, I did not have high hopes and that may have been a good thing because I was sorely disappointed when I finished reading it. This collection of eighteen short horror stories were nowhere near as scary as the books and short stories of Richard Matheson and Stephen King. Now I don't blame Horowitz for giving horror writing a try but he should stick to what he is good at and what made him successful in the first place: action writing. I mean this was an mediocre start for the author but usually you can tell when a writer has promise or potential for a certain genre or not. Moving on, I think the key to writing horror is you can't be too predictable for the audience because if you are then your stories will become boring fast. This can be said for any genre but, as I found out, is especially true of horror. That is the mistake Anthony Horowitz makes time and time again with each of his short stories as the reader can predict what is going to happen within the first few pages of each story.
Bath Night: After a family buys an antique bath tub, a girl refuses to take a bath in it, fearing it's haunted. Solution: when the girl found out the backstory behind the bath tub she should have straight up told her parents about it and that would have been the end of the story because they would have definitely gotten rid of it then.
Killer Camera: A son buys a camera from a yard sale as a gift to his father but soon finds out the dangerous effects it has when it takes a picture. Question: why did he buy the camera in the first place after hearing the strange story behind how it got to the yard sale?
Light Moves: A computer owned by a recently deceased coworker is given by a father to a son. I really didn't know where this story was going up until a bully showed up then I knew for sure what was coming to him.
The Night Bus: After leaving a party, two brothers hop on a bus filled with the dead. Another story I didn't know where it was going. Kind of reminded me of the night bus in Harry Potter.
Harriet's Horrible Dream: Harriet has a nightmare in which her parents sell her to a restaurant that serves a delicacy that even Sweeney Todd would be proud of. Predictable but my question is how could Harriet think this was all some horrible dream?
Scared: After leaving the footpath, a bully gets lost in the countryside. Very predictable as I didn't know what exactly was going to happen to the bully, I just knew it wasn't anything good.
A Career in Computer Games: A boy finds an ad about a job in computer games with no qualifications necessary. Again, predictable and my question is, who would even take such a job offer?
The Man with the Yellow Face: After taking a few pictures in a photo booth, all of them turn out okay except for one which shows a strange looking man who looks familiar. This was the first story that almost took me by surprise with its ending.
The Monkey's Ear: After buying their son a monkey ear that can supposedly grant four wishes, the family soon finds it is much more than they expected. Didn't know where this was headed but the ending reminded me of a similar incident that happened in the TV show Preacher.
The Hitchhiker: When a family picks up a hitchhiker, the son wonders if he might be a killer from the insane asylum nearby. The second story in this collection that almost surprised me as I should have seen the ending coming with all the hints right there.
The Sound of Murder: A deaf student begins to hear voices whenever she gets close to a certain teacher. Solution: she should have just told a teacher what happened and everything would have been alright.
Burned: A boy joins his aunt and uncle on a vacation where the uncle tries to get a tan. I don't know what the uncle's obsession with getting a tan was but the whole story could have been avoided if he wasn't so gung-ho about it.
Flight 715: After a dream in which she and her family die on a plane, a girl goes to great extremes to make sure they don't get on that flight. This was the third story that didn't go according to what I thought and surprised me with the way it turned out.
Howard's End: After a bus runs over and kills him, a shoplifter goes to what he imagines is heaven. How in the world did this kid think he was in heaven after all the bad stuff he did?
The Elevator: A detective tries to figure out what happened to a boy who disappeared in an elevator. It was pretty obvious what happened to the boy after the detective found out what kind of tastes the people in the elevator had but my question is how did they do it so quickly?
The Phone Goes Dead: A dead woman's phone falls into the hands of a teenaged boy and soon he starts to get phone calls from the dead. Solution: Just destroy the phone: no more phone, no more calls from the dead. It's as simple as that.
Twist Cottage: A couple and their son move into a haunted cottage where strange things start to happen to them. I saw where this story was headed but was unprepared for what the father planned to do with the cottage afterwards.
The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written: The author breaks into the office of his publisher to sneak in a story for this collection. Theory: the author probably only added this in to leave a creepy impression on the reader. I have to say he almost had me there.
I already explained how predictable Horowitz was throughout all his short stories so I won't go on about it. However, I will say that all his characters fall flat as they are not fleshed out enough or are just plain stupid. Most of these stories would be solved if the protagonist told an adult or someone in authority what was going on. Also, the concepts for each story were not strong so they dragged on and didn't make a whole lot of sense in the long run. Overall, I decided to give it two stars instead of one because of the effort the author put into this book and the three stories that caught me off-guard.
I would recommend this to fans of children's thrillers with a side of creepy.
Bath Night: After a family buys an antique bath tub, a girl refuses to take a bath in it, fearing it's haunted. Solution: when the girl found out the backstory behind the bath tub she should have straight up told her parents about it and that would have been the end of the story because they would have definitely gotten rid of it then.
Killer Camera: A son buys a camera from a yard sale as a gift to his father but soon finds out the dangerous effects it has when it takes a picture. Question: why did he buy the camera in the first place after hearing the strange story behind how it got to the yard sale?
Light Moves: A computer owned by a recently deceased coworker is given by a father to a son. I really didn't know where this story was going up until a bully showed up then I knew for sure what was coming to him.
The Night Bus: After leaving a party, two brothers hop on a bus filled with the dead. Another story I didn't know where it was going. Kind of reminded me of the night bus in Harry Potter.
Harriet's Horrible Dream: Harriet has a nightmare in which her parents sell her to a restaurant that serves a delicacy that even Sweeney Todd would be proud of. Predictable but my question is how could Harriet think this was all some horrible dream?
Scared: After leaving the footpath, a bully gets lost in the countryside. Very predictable as I didn't know what exactly was going to happen to the bully, I just knew it wasn't anything good.
A Career in Computer Games: A boy finds an ad about a job in computer games with no qualifications necessary. Again, predictable and my question is, who would even take such a job offer?
The Man with the Yellow Face: After taking a few pictures in a photo booth, all of them turn out okay except for one which shows a strange looking man who looks familiar. This was the first story that almost took me by surprise with its ending.
The Monkey's Ear: After buying their son a monkey ear that can supposedly grant four wishes, the family soon finds it is much more than they expected. Didn't know where this was headed but the ending reminded me of a similar incident that happened in the TV show Preacher.
The Hitchhiker: When a family picks up a hitchhiker, the son wonders if he might be a killer from the insane asylum nearby. The second story in this collection that almost surprised me as I should have seen the ending coming with all the hints right there.
The Sound of Murder: A deaf student begins to hear voices whenever she gets close to a certain teacher. Solution: she should have just told a teacher what happened and everything would have been alright.
Burned: A boy joins his aunt and uncle on a vacation where the uncle tries to get a tan. I don't know what the uncle's obsession with getting a tan was but the whole story could have been avoided if he wasn't so gung-ho about it.
Flight 715: After a dream in which she and her family die on a plane, a girl goes to great extremes to make sure they don't get on that flight. This was the third story that didn't go according to what I thought and surprised me with the way it turned out.
Howard's End: After a bus runs over and kills him, a shoplifter goes to what he imagines is heaven. How in the world did this kid think he was in heaven after all the bad stuff he did?
The Elevator: A detective tries to figure out what happened to a boy who disappeared in an elevator. It was pretty obvious what happened to the boy after the detective found out what kind of tastes the people in the elevator had but my question is how did they do it so quickly?
The Phone Goes Dead: A dead woman's phone falls into the hands of a teenaged boy and soon he starts to get phone calls from the dead. Solution: Just destroy the phone: no more phone, no more calls from the dead. It's as simple as that.
Twist Cottage: A couple and their son move into a haunted cottage where strange things start to happen to them. I saw where this story was headed but was unprepared for what the father planned to do with the cottage afterwards.
The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written: The author breaks into the office of his publisher to sneak in a story for this collection. Theory: the author probably only added this in to leave a creepy impression on the reader. I have to say he almost had me there.
I already explained how predictable Horowitz was throughout all his short stories so I won't go on about it. However, I will say that all his characters fall flat as they are not fleshed out enough or are just plain stupid. Most of these stories would be solved if the protagonist told an adult or someone in authority what was going on. Also, the concepts for each story were not strong so they dragged on and didn't make a whole lot of sense in the long run. Overall, I decided to give it two stars instead of one because of the effort the author put into this book and the three stories that caught me off-guard.
I would recommend this to fans of children's thrillers with a side of creepy.
December 18, 2024
This book was very hit and miss. It is a bunch of "horror" stories in one book. Yes some of them were good but others were plain stupid. I do not recommend this book at all. It was super hard to get into and such a waste of time personally.
March 8, 2009
This book wasnt even scary. At most points in the story it got boring.
December 21, 2019
I have no real strong opinion about this book. It is fair. There are slightly less than twenty stories and there is a mild variety of horror elements. A lot of them feel a bit samey even when they are different, a certain ur-rhythm that defines them: character introduction, character complication, weird stuff ramping up, twist ending. Reading them back to back somewhat deprives them of impact, because you know no matter what happens that you are ultimately waiting for the last couple pages, especially the last couple of paragraphs, to tell you what was really going on.
Some of the stories work well in this mode. "Killer Camera", for instance, where the sudden twist adds a whole new element of "oh, crap", or "Twist Cabin" where an extra punch of depravity throws things into a darker perspective. Others feel weakened by it, such as "The Man with the Yellow Face," where the final twist is the obvious twist and nearly any other solution would have worked better. It is particularly irksome in those like "A Career in Computer Games" where the twist is in no way a twist despite being delivered as such. In some cases, such as "The Monkey's Ear," it leads itself to a certain cruel humor. It is either one of the best stories in the batch or one of the worst, depending on how well you like the final couple of pages. I though it was funny and a good play on an old trope, with the ending having a good bite.
It touches base with many horror modes—cannibals, ghosts/spirits, accidents, cursed/weird technology. The characters are less varied: generally being snotty kids of weak-willed parents, semi-neglected but generally alright kids, or fair kids of pretty terrible parents. Fat, bitchy wives show up more than once. Several overworked parents smoke. Nearly everyone seems to be carrying around various stacks of CDs. Very few people use the internet despite it being generally the late 90s in these stories. Some of the set-ups and descriptions delve into the weaker side of shallow stereotyping: people tend to be as bad as their appearance, etc. Only one story really seems to switch this up and it has other issues, but props for that in its way.
It does get bonus points, though, for having a story, "Burned," that manages to be an diary-based epistolary tale that actually reads mostly like a real diary. The ending/twist of "Burned" is one of the dumber ones in the book and makes no real sense, but it was kind of cute in a darkly cruel way, I guess.
In the end, if you like young adult horror that mostly paints people as four-color caricatures and is all about "the twist" with a frequent dose of moralization (think something like EC Comics, but without the more clever bits of social satire), you'll probably like this. If not, then maybe not, though even then there might be one or two that appeals.
Some of the stories work well in this mode. "Killer Camera", for instance, where the sudden twist adds a whole new element of "oh, crap", or "Twist Cabin" where an extra punch of depravity throws things into a darker perspective. Others feel weakened by it, such as "The Man with the Yellow Face," where the final twist is the obvious twist and nearly any other solution would have worked better. It is particularly irksome in those like "A Career in Computer Games" where the twist is in no way a twist despite being delivered as such. In some cases, such as "The Monkey's Ear," it leads itself to a certain cruel humor. It is either one of the best stories in the batch or one of the worst, depending on how well you like the final couple of pages. I though it was funny and a good play on an old trope, with the ending having a good bite.
It touches base with many horror modes—cannibals, ghosts/spirits, accidents, cursed/weird technology. The characters are less varied: generally being snotty kids of weak-willed parents, semi-neglected but generally alright kids, or fair kids of pretty terrible parents. Fat, bitchy wives show up more than once. Several overworked parents smoke. Nearly everyone seems to be carrying around various stacks of CDs. Very few people use the internet despite it being generally the late 90s in these stories. Some of the set-ups and descriptions delve into the weaker side of shallow stereotyping: people tend to be as bad as their appearance, etc. Only one story really seems to switch this up and it has other issues, but props for that in its way.
It does get bonus points, though, for having a story, "Burned," that manages to be an diary-based epistolary tale that actually reads mostly like a real diary. The ending/twist of "Burned" is one of the dumber ones in the book and makes no real sense, but it was kind of cute in a darkly cruel way, I guess.
In the end, if you like young adult horror that mostly paints people as four-color caricatures and is all about "the twist" with a frequent dose of moralization (think something like EC Comics, but without the more clever bits of social satire), you'll probably like this. If not, then maybe not, though even then there might be one or two that appeals.
April 25, 2025
3/5
I was going to rate this a bit lower because for some reason the book was front loaded with a lot of very average short stories … I realized after starting this that these were stories meant for children and not recent college graduates, so I’m sure that’s partially why these didn’t click for me.
Still, a lot of the details here are really spelled out for you. If you aren’t supposed to like a character, you will know. They will like shoplifting and kicking dogs and have zero positive relationship with their otherwise sweet parents. Some of the prose felt a bit mean-spirited at times… a lot of fat-shaming? A touch of racism? Also, I know this may just be from an adult perspective, but I don’t care how mean they are: my heart hurts every time I read about a kid crying, even if I’m ‘not supposed to like them.’
Anyway, a lot of these shorts felt flat to me. Originally I felt very bored/annoyed reading them but during the back half of the book, that changed. Maybe I just had a better day today, but the stories started to charm me a lot. Like, they were cartoonish but in a way I kind of ate up.
I did like ‘Burned,’ to be honest. It charmed me. I love a good body horror and evil ‘good for her’ moment. I would read that one again.
I also liked the elevator one but for a completely unintentional reason… the final reveal was just really humorous to me because I could not stop imagining like this elevator of cannibals just blinking at each other and spontaneously deciding yeah let’s eat this guy. In fifty-eight seconds??? Like, I cannot get the picture out of my head of these guys swarming him like cartoon piranhas or something what. Where did his bones go?? There was nothing but a tiny speck of blood and one button in the elevator?? Where did his clothes go?? DID THEY SWALLOW HIM IN ONE BITE?? It’s like that meme like ‘Where did my child go?’ ‘Aha, nowhere…’ *suspiciously child-shaped lump in my throat*
I know this wasn’t the intention of the short (I will say the ending where the detectives were considering if the people leaving were still actively eating him was a nice touch) but it just makes me laugh. I will be thinking about the elevator child devouring speedrun for the rest of my life.
I was going to rate this a bit lower because for some reason the book was front loaded with a lot of very average short stories … I realized after starting this that these were stories meant for children and not recent college graduates, so I’m sure that’s partially why these didn’t click for me.
Still, a lot of the details here are really spelled out for you. If you aren’t supposed to like a character, you will know. They will like shoplifting and kicking dogs and have zero positive relationship with their otherwise sweet parents. Some of the prose felt a bit mean-spirited at times… a lot of fat-shaming? A touch of racism? Also, I know this may just be from an adult perspective, but I don’t care how mean they are: my heart hurts every time I read about a kid crying, even if I’m ‘not supposed to like them.’
Anyway, a lot of these shorts felt flat to me. Originally I felt very bored/annoyed reading them but during the back half of the book, that changed. Maybe I just had a better day today, but the stories started to charm me a lot. Like, they were cartoonish but in a way I kind of ate up.
I did like ‘Burned,’ to be honest. It charmed me. I love a good body horror and evil ‘good for her’ moment. I would read that one again.
I also liked the elevator one but for a completely unintentional reason… the final reveal was just really humorous to me because I could not stop imagining like this elevator of cannibals just blinking at each other and spontaneously deciding yeah let’s eat this guy. In fifty-eight seconds??? Like, I cannot get the picture out of my head of these guys swarming him like cartoon piranhas or something what. Where did his bones go?? There was nothing but a tiny speck of blood and one button in the elevator?? Where did his clothes go?? DID THEY SWALLOW HIM IN ONE BITE?? It’s like that meme like ‘Where did my child go?’ ‘Aha, nowhere…’ *suspiciously child-shaped lump in my throat*
I know this wasn’t the intention of the short (I will say the ending where the detectives were considering if the people leaving were still actively eating him was a nice touch) but it just makes me laugh. I will be thinking about the elevator child devouring speedrun for the rest of my life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2022
2.5 stars
Okay. Let me start by saying that I know I am not the target audience for these stories. That much is obvious. However, I can often find many things of worth from stories aimed at younger readers than myself and must admit that I hoped it would be the case here. I was hoping for clever rather than graphic, a characteristic that often plagues adult horror unnecessarily. What did I get? Aside from a few clever twist endings predictable tales with plenty of outdated sexism and a dash of racism to boot.
Japanese characters spoke with an offensive stereotypical pattern. In the first story we learn how our female protagonist will apparently never be a supermodel but at least she's not fat like her best friend. Other cultures, such as turkish, is also stereotypically, offensively portrayed for no real reason. It would also make no difference to the stories to have these outdated tropes removed something that should strong fly be considered in any reprintings of the book. Not only is it unnecessary but distracting and concerning the messages that could be sent to younger readers.
The stories themselves were okay. A few of the plot twists were fun and interesting but for the most part it was an easy to read book with tropes and twists that any horror aficionado has seen done before many a time. If it wasnt for the inane and pointless additions, like how in every story the whole family needed detailed descriptions including jobs etc that had little bearing on how it all panned out, I may have rated this higher. As I say I know I'm not the target audience. But the pointless exposition and inclusion of offensive stereotypes drop this easy read's rating significantly.
Okay. Let me start by saying that I know I am not the target audience for these stories. That much is obvious. However, I can often find many things of worth from stories aimed at younger readers than myself and must admit that I hoped it would be the case here. I was hoping for clever rather than graphic, a characteristic that often plagues adult horror unnecessarily. What did I get? Aside from a few clever twist endings predictable tales with plenty of outdated sexism and a dash of racism to boot.
Japanese characters spoke with an offensive stereotypical pattern. In the first story we learn how our female protagonist will apparently never be a supermodel but at least she's not fat like her best friend. Other cultures, such as turkish, is also stereotypically, offensively portrayed for no real reason. It would also make no difference to the stories to have these outdated tropes removed something that should strong fly be considered in any reprintings of the book. Not only is it unnecessary but distracting and concerning the messages that could be sent to younger readers.
The stories themselves were okay. A few of the plot twists were fun and interesting but for the most part it was an easy to read book with tropes and twists that any horror aficionado has seen done before many a time. If it wasnt for the inane and pointless additions, like how in every story the whole family needed detailed descriptions including jobs etc that had little bearing on how it all panned out, I may have rated this higher. As I say I know I'm not the target audience. But the pointless exposition and inclusion of offensive stereotypes drop this easy read's rating significantly.
March 12, 2023
This book is 'aggressively average' (borrowing this term from Mr. Jack Edwards from Jack in the Books). It's a collection of fairly predictable stories but they are also not offensively bad. The writing is a little too straightforward at times, where I feel as if Horowitz was worried we couldn't interpret something obvious. There were some interesting premises, but not enough of those stories to really win one over. I quite like 'The Man with the Yellow Face', and 'Burned' was quite a fun read. 'The Lift' was really intriguing (albeit fairly predictable once you reach the halfway point, and the summary at the back kind of spoilt it), while 'The Phone Goes Dead' was actually sad.
Also, one thing that bugged me was how so many of the characters are one-dimensional. If they are 'bad', they will smoke, swear, steal, commit vandalism, kick a puppy. If the child is spoilt, he/she is bound to scream a lot and throw tantrums. And in almost all the stories featuring these 'bad' characters it's just impossible to care about their fates or feel sorry for any of them. I think some of these stories would have been a lot more impactful if the character is somewhat likable? E.g. 'A Career in Computer Games' and 'Scared' would have been gripping if we actually relate to/like the main characters.
But despite its flaws, it's an easy read, and it's not so bad that I find myself unwilling to go on.
Also, one thing that bugged me was how so many of the characters are one-dimensional. If they are 'bad', they will smoke, swear, steal, commit vandalism, kick a puppy. If the child is spoilt, he/she is bound to scream a lot and throw tantrums. And in almost all the stories featuring these 'bad' characters it's just impossible to care about their fates or feel sorry for any of them. I think some of these stories would have been a lot more impactful if the character is somewhat likable? E.g. 'A Career in Computer Games' and 'Scared' would have been gripping if we actually relate to/like the main characters.
But despite its flaws, it's an easy read, and it's not so bad that I find myself unwilling to go on.
June 1, 2023
You know how sometimes you read a short story collection and the first two or three stories are phenomenal, then the stories start dwindling off in entertainment value as the book goes on? This is NOT one of those collections. Every story is a page-turner and left me craving "just one more story".
The term "horror" in the title might throw some people off. If you're expecting blood and gore and scary monsters, demons, serial killers, these aren't the stories for you and you will be disappointed.
Instead, these tales remind me more of stories you'd tell around a campfire, or something you'd see in an episode of The Twilight Zone, more "eerie" than downright frightening (although I can't say I didn't look over my shoulder once or twice after the last tale) and more psychological than slasher...which is probably why I loved them!
These stories are written for a younger audience (maybe tweens?), which I think provides a nice challenge for an author to write something spooky without being nightmare-inducing, twisty without being confusing, and somewhat tongue-in-cheek funny without being campy.
Overall, the writing is smooth and easy to read, none of the stories are boring and could be enjoyed by young and old alike.
The term "horror" in the title might throw some people off. If you're expecting blood and gore and scary monsters, demons, serial killers, these aren't the stories for you and you will be disappointed.
Instead, these tales remind me more of stories you'd tell around a campfire, or something you'd see in an episode of The Twilight Zone, more "eerie" than downright frightening (although I can't say I didn't look over my shoulder once or twice after the last tale) and more psychological than slasher...which is probably why I loved them!
These stories are written for a younger audience (maybe tweens?), which I think provides a nice challenge for an author to write something spooky without being nightmare-inducing, twisty without being confusing, and somewhat tongue-in-cheek funny without being campy.
Overall, the writing is smooth and easy to read, none of the stories are boring and could be enjoyed by young and old alike.
March 11, 2025
There I was, looking at the Anthony Horowitz section in the library, pondering whether to get Alex Rider #1 or The Power Of Five #2 (Evil Star), when, I came across this book.
Now, as a longtime fan of horror who always eats up any scary, greusome book thrown on my table, seeing a book called HORROR, written by one of my current favourite authors, of course I had to try this!
I finished this in two sittings. That's how much I love it. From a bloody bathtub to a women-killing cottage, every single story in here is amazing. It's always the endings in the book that get me, and that's exactly what a short horror story needs. Also, Anthony Horowitz's name has (almost) the word horror in it. Anthony "Horow"itz.
Anyway, love love love this book. Also, it made me famous in my class because I had brought it to school and everyone wanted it. Seriously, there were like 10 more copies of this book in the library and when I checked today, there were none left.
Now, as a longtime fan of horror who always eats up any scary, greusome book thrown on my table, seeing a book called HORROR, written by one of my current favourite authors, of course I had to try this!
I finished this in two sittings. That's how much I love it. From a bloody bathtub to a women-killing cottage, every single story in here is amazing. It's always the endings in the book that get me, and that's exactly what a short horror story needs. Also, Anthony Horowitz's name has (almost) the word horror in it. Anthony "Horow"itz.
Anyway, love love love this book. Also, it made me famous in my class because I had brought it to school and everyone wanted it. Seriously, there were like 10 more copies of this book in the library and when I checked today, there were none left.
February 14, 2018
I read this book for work - I teach English/Literacy to students with learning difficulties. I am always looking for something to read with them, base comprehension/writing tasks on/get them to read.
This is a collection of short stories, all with a slightly horror/tales of the unexpected theme. It was perfect for younger high school students. There are some great stories that will interest kids/teens. In particular The Man with the Yellow Face and The Hitchhiker. I recommend it to anyone trying to get reluctant readers to read.
This is a collection of short stories, all with a slightly horror/tales of the unexpected theme. It was perfect for younger high school students. There are some great stories that will interest kids/teens. In particular The Man with the Yellow Face and The Hitchhiker. I recommend it to anyone trying to get reluctant readers to read.
February 6, 2024
Name: Kylie Gunnoe
The Complete Horowitz Horror by Anthony Horowitz
4.5 stars
The Complete Horowitz Horror is a suspenseful horror book. I would have given it a 5 star but some of the stories were less horror than I would have liked. I didn’t like how they left us with a cliffhanger and I wanted to hear more about what happened. I liked that it had a lot of suspense and I didn’t want to put the book down. I would recommend this book to people who like horror and don’t mind cliffhangers.
The Complete Horowitz Horror by Anthony Horowitz
4.5 stars
The Complete Horowitz Horror is a suspenseful horror book. I would have given it a 5 star but some of the stories were less horror than I would have liked. I didn’t like how they left us with a cliffhanger and I wanted to hear more about what happened. I liked that it had a lot of suspense and I didn’t want to put the book down. I would recommend this book to people who like horror and don’t mind cliffhangers.
May 2, 2020
Actual Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Loved this for the nostalgia factor (had a previous copy of this short story collection given to me for Christmas one year when I was a kid by my parents and it has a lot of peaceful memories attached to it, ironically) but the writing and execution of the group of stories did come off as quite childish and definitely for a younger age group. A couple stories gave me an uneasy or unsettled feeling but none left me particularly scared per se.
Loved this for the nostalgia factor (had a previous copy of this short story collection given to me for Christmas one year when I was a kid by my parents and it has a lot of peaceful memories attached to it, ironically) but the writing and execution of the group of stories did come off as quite childish and definitely for a younger age group. A couple stories gave me an uneasy or unsettled feeling but none left me particularly scared per se.
July 27, 2020
Most of the stories had plot twists that my son and I both enjoyed. A few of the stories had elements that were familiar to me, having delved into this genre many times over the years; but a child mightn't find the stories quite as predictable as I did. In this particular example of his juvenile fiction, I think Horowicz miscalculates the depth of a child's perception; he could have more nuances and fewer stock characters and yet keep the element of surprise and humour.
January 4, 2023
A compilation of 18 short horror stories that will entertain you for hours!
I think some of these aren't actually scary, some of them were rather sad. "Light Moves" and "The Sound of Murder" were my favorites. I think some of the stories were kinda predictable, such as "The Elevator", and "The Phone Goes Dead".
The last chapter was kinda fun. It's short but spooky once you figure it out.
Overall an interesting mash of horror stories that I definitely recommend!
I think some of these aren't actually scary, some of them were rather sad. "Light Moves" and "The Sound of Murder" were my favorites. I think some of the stories were kinda predictable, such as "The Elevator", and "The Phone Goes Dead".
The last chapter was kinda fun. It's short but spooky once you figure it out.
Overall an interesting mash of horror stories that I definitely recommend!
June 21, 2020
Nothing terrifying and clearly more geared towards a younger audience. That doesn't mean it isn't a fun read though! The stories pick up more as you progress through the book, and I came to really enjoy the later works in the anthology. The Shortest Horror Story Ever Written was pretty comical too. I don't regret reading this!
January 18, 2021
I loved the short stories in this book! Most of them were creepy enough to keep you thinking about them after reading. It took me about a month to finish this as I would pick it up and read 1 or 2 stories waiting for things to finish around the house. It is a quick read and could be finished in a day or two. My favorite was the haunted house! Two thumbs up!
October 5, 2021
3 ⭐
This was an ok horror short story collection. None of the stories were really rememberable. This reads like a moddle grade/ YA collection. It might be labeled in one of these age ranges I am not sure. I could see my younger self really liking this collection if it had been around then. As a 33 year old they were fine.
This was an ok horror short story collection. None of the stories were really rememberable. This reads like a moddle grade/ YA collection. It might be labeled in one of these age ranges I am not sure. I could see my younger self really liking this collection if it had been around then. As a 33 year old they were fine.
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